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Archive for March 22nd, 2010
US public health pioneer wins Stockholm Water Prize
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Agence France-Presse: US public health expert Rita Colwell on Monday won the Stockholm Water Prize for her contributions to solving water-related public health problems like cholera, the jury said. Colwell, 76, received the award for her "numerous seminal contributions towards solving the world's water and water-related public health problems," the jury of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) said. Her work, especially on preventing the spread of cholera, "has established the basis for ...
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Are megacities answer to China future?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Xinhua: Are more mega-cities, the like of Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, the answer to China's growing problem of environmental deterioration, amid an explosive growth of the economy? Some experts have predicted that up to 350 million more rural residents are to influx to China's cities in the coming 20 years. A leading environmental lobby group, The Climate Group, believe that huge Mega-cities could pave the way to a cleaner environmental future for ...
World Bank must tackle pressing water issues: Report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Reuters: The World Bank needs to pay more attention to the most pressing water-related problems in developing countries, where the effects of climate change are a growing threat, the Bank's internal watchdog said on Monday, World Water Day. A report by the Independent Evaluation Group said that while water projects funded by the World Bank have had good success rates when measured against their objectives, the institution's tendency has been to focus on problems that are easier to ...
Statoil striving for big cut in oilsands CO2
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Reuters: Statoil has pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions from its Canadian oilsands production by 40 per cent in 15 years, a top executive said Monday, as the Norwegian company faces pressure at home to burnish its environmental reputation. Lars Christian Bacher, president of the oil and gas company's Canadian arm, said it will cut carbon dioxide emissions from its planned oilsands projects by 25 per cent by 2020 and 40 per cent five years after that. Bacher said the technologies to ...
Hunting, fishing groups angle for adaptation efforts
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Daily Climate: For the average United States' city or 'burb dweller, firsthand evidence of climate change is rare. Hunters and anglers see it every day. That's one of the main messages from a coalition of hunting and fishing organizations that released a report Monday outlining the consequences of climate change for fish and wildlife in the United States. "It's very evident that major shifts are under way," said Richard Kearney, assistant regional director for climate change for the U.S. Fish ...
U.S.: Water Crisis High on Policy Agenda, Clinton Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Inter Press Service: On a rainy morning here Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasised the centrality to U.S. foreign policy of addressing the world's water challenges. "For the United States water represents one of the great diplomatic and development opportunities of our time. It's not every day you find an issue where effective diplomacy and development will allow you to save millions of lives, feed the hungry, empower women, advance our national security interests, protect the ...
Dormant microbes promote diversity, serve environment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
ScienceDaily: The ability of microbes, tiny organisms that do big jobs in our environment, to go dormant not only can save them from death and possible extinction but may also play a key role in promoting biodiversity and ecosystem stability. In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, Michigan State University's Jay Lennon and Stuart Jones described how they used a mathematical model and molecular tools to study how dormancy affects the biodiversity of ...
Massive sandstorms choke cities across China
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
Associated Press: The dust works its way through keyholes and window frames, and smells like a filthy brew of dirt, smoke and metallic particles. The sky turns magenta and whole buildings disappear. Eyes tear up and throats get sore from coughing. Northern China's spring sandstorms blew in with particular ferocity over the weekend, bringing misery to people working outdoors Monday in Beijing and across a wide swath of the country. "It gets in your throat, under your clothes, in your bed," said ...
Coffee growers fret about climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
National Public Radio: The effects of climate change may be coming to your coffee cup. The plants that produce coffee beans are notoriously sensitive, and small changes in temperature and precipitation can have big impacts on coffee quality and quantity. It may cause connoisseurs to cringe, but a warmer climate will encourage more coffee farmers to plant the heartier robusta varieties, which are caffeine-rich but bitter, instead of the mild, tasty Arabica coffees that Americans prefer. "I often call ...
World Bank helps Indonesia increase geothermal energy
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2010
ClimateWire: The World Bank has announced $400 million to help double Indonesia's geothermal energy capacity, part of a broad effort at the bank to ramp up climate change spending in the developing world. Indonesian leaders estimate the country has about 28,100 megawatts of geothermal capacity -- the equivalent of about 12 billion barrels of oil. They are aiming to make the renewable power a major source of energy in the coming years, a goal that Indonesian officials note will require hefty ...